Due to rare but extended ambulance wait times, Clark County Fire District 6 recently bought a used ambulance to make sure critical patients can get quick transport to a hospital.
“AMR does a great job for us,” Fire District 6 Operations Chief David Russell said of the ambulance company that serves most of Clark County. “But on occasion, AMR can go to level zero, in which case we may experience some really long wait times on scene, and we can’t abandon the patient on scene.”
American Medical Response Clark County employs about 126 paramedics and emergency medical technicians, who respond to an average of 30,000 calls annually.
Level zero occurs when no ambulances are available to take calls. Russell said it often happens during inclement winter weather when call volumes are high and travel times are slow. He said he expects the district’s ambulance will be used three to five times a year, most likely when wait times are 30 minutes or longer and a patient is in critical condition.
“Our average response time to Fire District 6 is between five and six minutes for critical patients,” Rocco Roncarati, AMR Clark County’s regional director, said in a phone interview. “Weather certainly poses challenges when there’s snow and ice on the ground. I think that’s typical of most agencies, because you’re driving at a much slower rate of speed and driving as conditions allow.”
The ambulance the district bought isn’t licensed, so the fire district cannot bill people for transport. It won’t have all the equipment that a licensed advanced life support ambulance typically has, but it will be staffed by a paramedic and an EMT.
And it will carry oxygen and extra medical equipment, increasing the supplies rigs on a scene already have.
Russell said he expects the ambulance to be up and running in mid-August after adding equipment and Fire District 6’s logo.
The district purchased the ambulance from a dealership in Texas for $35,000. Russell said it was used in the federal system to transport people between military hospitals.
Levy approaches
Fire District 6 posted about the ambulance purchase on social media earlier this month. Most people on Facebook shared their gratitude for the purchase.
But not everyone was supportive.
“This isn’t going to be popular, but since I live in Dist. 6 area, this greatly affects my pocket,” one person commented. “It was a waste of taxpayer money, and there is currently a levy for MORE funding … are you serious?”
The district is asking voters in the Aug. 6 primary election to approve a levy lid left to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Voters in the district are currently paying $1.15 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
“We purchased that ambulance as a measure to kind of bridge that gap when AMR may have an excessively long wait time,” Russell said. “We’re not spending a ton of money on this since we’re not in the transport business.”
Fire District 6 operates three fire stations serving Hazel Dell, Felida and Salmon Creek, and jointly operates a fourth with Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue. Every emergency vehicle in service has advanced life support with a paramedic on it.
“The last thing we want is to have our paramedics on scene with a severely ill or injured person and just be playing that waiting game,” Russell said, “(or) potentially even watch someone die on scene because we’re waiting for an ambulance.”
